Reviews

Ragnarok Online 2: Noel Class Review

Hello folks I’m back for a follow up for Ragnarok Online 2‘s newest addition which is the Noel Class. This update has been around for a couple of months now but not many reviews or articles have been written about it. As players we have our favorite roles to play in a team or a party like being a tank or a damager or even those that prefers to play support. Each role is important and knowing exactly how to fill in that particular role will make you able to carry the team.

The Noel’s History

In the history of Midgard, it was a race of gracious Elves that came to the land and shared their knowledge to the Normans (Humans), teaching them the basics of civilization. But instead of gratitude, the Normans returned the Elves’ kindness with betrayal by attempting to conquer Alfheim, the Ancient City of Elves, alongside the Dwarves. But of course, this failed. The Elves sealed the entrance to their world and the Normans were forced to build their own by using their own capabilities.

When the war against the Goddess Freyja broke out, the Elves fought once more, but this time it was alongside the Normans. The Goddess was defeated, the war finally ended – but the demise of the Elves were far from over. They became cursed and at the verge of extinction, they couldn’t survive without absorbing more magic. It transformed them into demon-like beings with horns and wings. A small piece of artifact imbued with pure magic kept them from completely turning into demons and in order to minimize their consumption of magic, they retained their childlike size and features. The Normans, since the once majestic Elves have all disappeared, they decided to call this new race Noel which for them simply meant No Elves.

One thing did I noticed upon trying out this new class is how much easier it was to kill targets, especially those annoying mini bosses for quests. It took far less time and effort defeating mobs as a Noel compared to when I was working on my Acolyte or Mage, or even my Thief. I’m not sure if Aeria Games made things a little easier or perhaps, Noels can simply pown even at a low level. Anyways, every Noel starts as an Alter, this is the first job class for their race. Once reaching level 25, an Alter can choose between Crecentia and Soulmaker for their second job advancement. There is a huge difference between the two class options for Alters:

The Crecentia

This class functions ultimately as a Damage Dealer regardless which build a player wishes to follow. Everyone can relate to going against classes that can spam you with debuffs, DoT (Damage Over Time) and DPS (Damage Per Second) skills – it can only be described as awesome and at the same time utterly annoying to go against anyone with these types of skills. A class made to deal consistent, maximized and amplified damage to one or even more targets at the same time, they have both ranged and AoE skills, but functions more of a close ranged fighter like Knights, Warriors, Assassins, Monks and Beastmasters then again compared to other close ranged classes, the Crecentia pretty much has the upper hand in out damaging everyone else.

There are lots of experimental builds for this class Stat-wise, but if I were to continue my character, I’d definitely go for an Agility / Intelligence build. Why is that? Agility contributes for Critical Attacks, Accuracy and of course Dodge. Adding accuracy and consistent critical hits to a Crecentia’s already insane damage dealing abilities literally takes the pain they can serve to any target to whole different level. It may be taking quite a chance with dodge though with not much Health or Defense, the Crecentia could be a tad bit vulnerable to physical attacks if enemies get too close or too overwhelming in numbers, ergo their survival in Solo-ing will greatly depend on their armor plus the aid of consumables that provides buffs and regeneration.

As for Intelligence, well Noel classes depend on Intelligence for their damage output. But not many knows how Intelligence also adds to magical defense (Magical Block), 1 Point of Intelligence adds 2 points to Magic Attack Power and Magical Defense. This build has a solid amount of damage and survivability against both Magic and Physical attacks which makes them perfect as DDs in parties for Instances and raids, especially when most bosses are Magic type.

For PVP, I guess Crecentia can still be annoyingly effective. Their biggest rivals, damage wise, are perhaps Rangers , Wizards and DPS build Sorcerers . But then again, Crecentia can be quite overwhelming with their DPS and DOT attacks that STACKS – yes they stack and aside from that, DOTs (last I checked) never miss! Unlike other classes that depend on critical hits – and yes, again, critical attacks can miss. Add the fact that the Intelligence / Agility build I noted earlier is pretty much capable of withstanding attacks from other top damage dealing classes like the three I just mentioned above. There are bound to be flaws in this build like how adding more health could make a huge difference which is very true, but experimenting is part of the fun right?

The Soulmaker

Soulmaker is pretty similar to the Sorcerer class ( second job class option for Mage). Soulmakers have the option to follow a hybrid build or go full support. Going hybrid only means a Soulmaker can pretty much be self sufficient how we all hoped for the Monk class like in the first Ragnarok Online game where in RO2, Monks’ healing skills were completely taken out which is why it can only be compared to Sorcerers since they too have quite a few healing skills, both single target and awesome AoE heals.

As an Alter, they already have that capability to induce a considerable amount of damage, so going Full Support as a Soulmakers won’t really be much of a problem. They will still be equipped with their Alter skills plus some optional damage dealing skills as a Soulmaker but of course this build concentrates on their buff and other support skills. Think about it, a few months ago, there were quests that really required both Priest and FS (Full Support) Sorcerers in a party just to complete a dungeon. Now, with the addition of the FS Soulmaker, could this mean that having a Priest in a team isn’t a requirement anymore but more of an option?

If I were to define this class it would be something like “alternate damage dealer with maxed support skills”. Creating a Soulmaker, others will immediately assume you’ll be going Full Support. Luckily there are those that do experiment on creating hybrids – some even prefer thinking they’ll have a better chance in the game. Most players will say that this kind of build is kind of half baked since going hybrid plainly means shaving off a few layers of what could be a character class’s full potential.

Perhaps going hybrid with the intent of making the character self sufficient isn’t that absurd of an idea and it perhaps could be a perfect set up for players that prefers to go solo. This build involves a huge amount of consideration as how much of which potential is going to be shaved off, balancing the rest of the skills. Of course we need to consider the fact that a normal player can’t possibly solo everything regardless of gear and build. Everyone will eventually require the help of a whole team. I am not saying that a hybrid build for any class is not a good idea, in fact I’ve created one before, a Sorcerer, that was rather quite effective as an alternate ranged damage dealer and full support (until the class itself was NERFED without remorse). It all depends on how logical the player is in terms of balancing out skills and stats to make the character worth the gamble. Of course anybody can reset both stats and skills anytime but it will cost 600 Kafra Cash each, and I’m not sure if many are willing to spend just for that. So properly planning builds is a definite must.